Jamison Hensley, ESPN Staff Writer
BALTIMORE — When Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson pops out of the tunnel or makes a big play, he gets an “MVP” award at M&T Bank Stadium, just like he did in 2019 and 2023. chants echo.
But unlike back then, Jackson is no longer the overwhelming favorite to win NFL Most Valuable Player heading into the final game of the regular season. According to ESPN BET, he has the second-best odds in the much-debated race, behind Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen.
Saturday’s final game against the Cleveland Browns (4:30 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN) will be Jackson’s last chance to show why he should win his third MVP award. Jackson has spent his career defying expectations, as he has repeatedly evaded oncoming defenders before throwing touchdown passes.
“As far as I’m concerned, he’s our MVP and our guy,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “But you know what? That’s not really what we think about. We don’t hear anyone talking about it. We don’t hear Lamar talking about it. We’re just trying to win the next game.”
I’m no math genius, but one guy seems to come out on top in every category except QB sneaks https://t.co/ilrObZXQAc
— Charlie Kolar (@charliekolar_) December 30, 2024
Allen and the Bills (13-3) lock up the No. 2 seed heading into Week 18, and a win over the Browns (3-13) would give Baltimore (11-5) the AFC North and clinch the conference. can secure victory. They are the No. 3 seed and will host the wild card game. Jackson can also put the finishing touches on one of the most remarkable regular seasons in history by a quarterback, passing Michael Vick as the NFL’s all-time leading rushing quarterback on Christmas Day.
Jackson’s statistically best season in his seven-year career included QBR (78.0), yards per pass attempt (8.9), touchdown pass completion percentage (8.8%), and passing touchdowns to interceptions. That includes being ranked No. 1 in the NFL in that category. ratio (9.8).
Here are some of the unprecedented feats Jackson is still able to accomplish.
– Jackson, who has 3,955 passing yards, needs 45 more yards to become the first player in NFL history to pass for over 4,000 yards and rush for over 800 yards in a single season.
– With one more touchdown pass (39) and no interceptions, Jackson would have the fewest interceptions (4) of any player who threw 40 or more touchdown passes in a season.
– With a passer rating of 121.6, Jackson could finish with the highest single-season passer rating in NFL history (122.5), set by New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers in 2011.
“This is the National Football League’s MVP, the best version of the MVP yet again,” Ravens quarterbacks coach Tee Martin said. “So for me, as opposed to trying to bash him or say voter fatigue or whatever people call this, we need to appreciate the growth and focus on that. It’s amazing to me because what we are all witnessing is a player who is not even 30 years old yet.
Leading up to the Christmas game against the Ravens, Houston Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said Jackson “jumped off the tape as arguably the best player I’ve seen this year.”
“You talk about MVP? He’s definitely the MVP in my book, not just in running the game, but in the way he throws the football, his accuracy, his decision-making,” Lyons said.
Lyons watched Jackson up close during the Texans’ 31-2 loss to the Ravens. In the second quarter, Jackson rolled to his right and faked out four-time Pro Bowl defensive end Daniel Hunter along the sideline. Jackson scrambled before throwing, gaining 8.4 seconds. This was the second longest touchdown throw this season.
Perhaps more impressively, Jackson turned away and raised his hands in celebration before the pass resulted in a 9-yard touchdown to tight end Isaiah Riley.
Lamar’s Christmas Magic. #NFLonNetflix on @Netflix #BALvsHOU pic.twitter.com/vApzXuZZoh
— NFL (@NFL) December 25, 2024
“I get to watch Lamar every day and bring what he can to the game,” Ravens center Tyler Linderbaum said. “He’s just a special player. He’s a lot of fun to play with – just what he can do – and I don’t think there’s a player more deserving of that (MVP) award than Lamar Jackson.”
Jackson joins quarterbacks Rodgers, Peyton Manning, Johnny Unitas, Brett Favre, Tom Brady and running back Jim Brown as the third NFL MVP since the award was first won in 1957. He is the seventh player to win the award. When the MVP is announced on February 6th, Jackson, at 28 years old, will become the youngest player to win the award three times.
“If it (actually) happens, it happens (and) it’s stupid,” Jackson said. “I don’t really focus on that. But that was never my goal. Even if it was my first or second time, it was never my goal (to win MVP). I’m always going to be the champion.” I would like to finish with a ship, but I don’t have enough.”
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When Jackson stays healthy, his MVP resume is extraordinary. He has started and finished the previous three seasons (2019, 2020, 2023) and was named MVP in two of those seasons.
Jackson has tried to distance himself from social media conversations about MVP.
“You can talk about it all you want, but you want to tag me and make it like clickbait?” Jackson said. “Because sometimes I’ll come back and say something like, ‘That was stupid.’ That’s what it is, but I don’t care about the stories (and conversations) that I’m trying to win.”
Jackson’s improvement as a passer is at the heart of his MVP case. He is now on the brink of his first 4,000-yard passing season and his first 40-touchdown season.
But this was also the year he became the most prolific running quarterback in NFL history.
No one was more surprised than Vick when Jackson broke a 13-year record against the Texans. After watching Jackson start two games in 2018, Vick told ESPN that he thought Jackson had the best shot to surpass him.
Jackson passed Vick with his 6,110th rushing yard in 102 games, which was 41 fewer yards than it took Vick to get his career total. Vick acknowledged Jackson’s record-breaking on Fox’s pregame show, saying, “I’m not going to say it didn’t hurt a little bit, but he deserved it.”
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson, who is fourth on the career rushing quarterback list, responded to a question about whether this record solidifies Jackson as the best two-way quarterback of all time.
“I mean, that’s a really good question,” Wilson said. “I think he’s definitely one of them. When you think about great players like Michael Vick, he was a player who really lit up the whole stadium. But I think Lamar (and) Michael Vick. I think those guys are unique people in terms of what they can do, so I certainly disagree with that.”
John Harbaugh congratulates Lamar on breaking Michael Vick’s record for most rushing yards by a QB in NFL history ❤️ pic.twitter.com/y5SHqpLbVk
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) December 26, 2024
Besides Jackson, Wilson is the only active quarterback with more than 5,000 yards rushing, with 5,446 yards. Allen finished with 4,142 yards, third among active quarterbacks.
Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer, who has coached Vick and Jackson, believes the quarterback will eventually pass Jackson on the rushing list.
“A quarterback who can throw, read, have coverage, accuracy, etc. is valuable, but if you have a player who can move on top of that, that’s an added plus,” Zimmer said. “It’s really old-school in some ways, but it’s kind of a variation of the wishbone that they’re doing now with quarterback runs, but they can throw the ball better. Yeah, I think so. There’s going to be people like these two, but they’re rare athletes.”
Given what Jackson has been able to do so far in his seventh season, it wouldn’t be surprising if he adds another 3,000 or 4,000 rushing yards before his career is over.
But Jackson doesn’t believe he will remain the league’s No. 1 rushing quarterback forever.
“If a record is going to be broken, hats off to whoever did it, because records are meant to be broken,” Jackson said. “There’s no need to get mad about that. I believe that if that happened, it’s just one of the uniquely talented players in a generation.”
NFL Nation writers Todd Archer and Brooke Pryor contributed to this report.
